An introduction to Reverent Catholic Mass. The Good News, the Map Locator, and what we hope to do!
The Good News - Hello From Reverent Catholic Mass
I have a confession to make.
I have been addicted to reading the news. I read mostly political and Catholic news from all the sources that you can think of and from all points of view. But one day it occurred to me that perhaps I should ask myself a serious question about all the news I read.
Do I read the news because in reality I am addicted to it and deep down enjoy being upset?
It has been drilled into us that it is our duty as members of society to stay informed. It feels like a mortal sin if you stay ignorant of most recent news cycle. But, if you stay informed of the state of the country, it’s bad news. If you are up to date with all that is happening within the Catholic Church, it’s bad news. If you inquire about your local region, you find that there appears to be only bad news. The worst part of this is that it seems there is nothing you can do about it.
However, underneath all the bad news there is also a ton a great news! Take a look at the map on ReverentCatholicMass.com. The country is covered with Churches all over the place where priests who are dedicated to Our Lord Jesus Christ are offering Mass reverently. When the map was being put together, based on the news, it was hard to imagine that this would be the result. But here it is. The majority of the Churches on the map offer the Extraordinary Form at least 1 time per month, and all of them offer Mass reverently.
Aside from a nation full of solid Catholic Churches, there are other fantastic things happening in the Catholic world. There are multitudes of people rediscovering the richness of the Western Tradition. Homeschooling, Gregorian Chant, and Classical Schools are growing in popularity and in number. Additionally, there are orthodox institutes everywhere promoting orthodox teaching, Pontifical Masses, Catholic culture, Sacred Music, Sacred Art, the Great Books, and solid economic theory.
It can be demoralizing to hear and see all the destruction going on around us. But as it turns out, God has been hard at work rebuilding the Church right under our noses, even as state Attorney General reports continue to roll out and new scandals are made known. Clearly there is a long way to go. But with lots of prayer, dedication, courage, and zeal we will continue to see positive change.
As the first post on ReverentCatholicMass.com, the intention is to try to keep the commentary positive, because we all hear the bad news and we all know the best places to hear about it. ReverentCatholicMass.com will try to be a place where the commentary is positive and you can visually see that there are a ton of people who share your values.
There are a lot of reasons to remain hopeful, most importantly, because Christ promised that He would never abandon the Church. As He has proven time and time again, he can take the horrendously bad and make it good.
Those who report the bad news, highlighting the filth and the rot do a great service for the Church, as the darkness must be brought to the light. But ReverentCatholicMass.com will attempt to focus on the good things and offer practical resources for living the faith, despite the problems in the Church and the world.
Please note, it has been realized that even highlighting good things like reverent Catholic Masses can be seen as divisive and negative. That is the nature of making value judgements. Know the intention is to simply show that there are wonderful, welcoming orthodox and traditional communities everywhere and therefore the Good News is flourishing even in very dark times.
PAX,
Tony and Kendra